High Hopes
by Weapon Frayer
Summary: AU in canon. Goaded by his fellow gang members, Chrollo's entry into the Hunter Exams couldn't have come at the worst time. Instead of a cheap thrill, he ends up as prey on one man's quest for revenge and justice. Instead of a standard fight, he begins a journey down different roads for both predator and prey, to darkness and light. No slash.
1. Prologue - Out of Time

**Author's Note:**

 **I jumped on the HxH bandwagon. I also haven't written fanfiction regularly for a good 2 years or so. I hope this can get somewhere, because Kurapika is the best character ever.**

 **The starting date is completely arbitrary, and this fic is an AU. The point of divergence (POD) is that Chrollo enters the Hunter Exams for amusement. Unfortunately for him, it's also the year Kurapika entered.**

 **Before I begin, the prologue begins at what I hope to be Chapter 27. I know it's a trope, but watching Quentin Tarantino gets you places.**

 **And final ramblings: there will be a AU Nen ability involved. It's kinda BS, but for those of you who enjoy JoJo, it's gonna be a hell of a ride.**

 **Anyways, hope this is OK! Please review, because I'm kinda rusty in terms of writing here. :o**

* * *

 **HALL OF ARCHIVES, OUTSKIRTS OF METEOR CITY**

 **December 5th, 1996**

For a moment, the light shone.

Across the olden hall concealed deep within the abandoned Meteor Library, candles and lamps wandered aimlessly, silent as the cool air surrounding them.

Amidst the lights was a man, a chair, and a column of books. Scattered and strewn across the ground, they were all, despite the unkempt appearance, neatly closed and oddly organized.

The man watched intently, seamlessly switching between a glance at the barred doors of the hall and the text of an ancient fable about the sun and the moon.

A stinging sensation pricked the side of the man's right arm, coinciding with the sound of metal gently colliding.

All of a sudden, a bang shook the hall.

Echoes of each smash of the door rang throughout the hall like a cacophony of disorder and disarray. Despite the chaos surrounding him, the man read on, intently.

Finally, the stone door, the final barrier between two predators, broke free. The dissonance in the air silenced the candles, causing them to be extinguished in a sea of hatred.

Amidst the darkness, a pair of red eyes confronted grey.

* * *

"This is where it ends."

Kurapika glared at Chrollo, who had an amused smirk at his statement. He looked back at Kurapika, slowly and lazily, and opened an eye.

"And this is…?"

Kurapika entered into a fighting stance, fists ready to come to blows. "The 4th time."

For a handful of moments, Chrollo counted each previous encounter, as if they were numbers engraved on his hands. "Number one, the restaurant at the top of the hotel…"

* * *

 _"You…"_

 _"You bastard!"_

* * *

"The second, the marketplace of Yorknew City…"

* * *

 _"Hnn…"_

 _"It's too late, Kurta."_

 _"You...you underestimate me,_ Spider

* * *

"The third encounter, the Mauro Building in Weisshaus…"

* * *

 _"So,_ Spider _. How does it feel having a part of your body torn away?"_

 _"How does it feel being stripped of an arm? How does it feel?!"_

 _"Now you know what it feels like...to be broken."_

* * *

"I have been humiliated, battered, and beaten to the brink of death. We've both fought each other enough times for you to know, Chrollo…"

In the span of a second, Kurapika's fist connected with Chrollo's face, surprising and attracting a slight hinge of pain from Chrollo.

"...that you can never kill the Kurta spirit."

* * *

 _There will always be darkness and light._

 _No matter how hard one might try, it is near impossible to fully embrace either. Only the ones who have either fallen so far or ascended so high as to become either can truly know what either extreme is._

 _An old adage reads as such: "He who fights monsters should see to it that he himself does not become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you."_

 _One who pursues revenge, vengeance, or anything of the sort will inevitably be confronted by this dilemma. Once cornered, the temptation to fall into what they truly hate will take bloom, and slowly corrupt the avenger into an oppressor. White knights turn into oppressive kings, noble idealists turn into the dark decay of cynicism and tyranny, and even paragons of light and justice can be warped into a greater tyrant than the enemy they face. Only those with the conviction and willpower to follow the high road can resist the prospect of warping their means to meet their ends._

 _Conversely, one who is willing to consider all perspectives, know them, touch them, and be all, can attain the opposite of falling into darkness, the attainment of enlightenment. One who is willing to not only seek knowledge of perspectives, but also admit guilt for harmful action against others, and seek forgiveness from their victims, can attain light in its purest form._

 _Seekers of the light, unlike those who can fall into darkness, can be from anywhere. From those who fully remorse past actions, to those who simply strive for more knowledge, anyone can attain enlightenment._

 _Just as the greatest villain can be redeemed, so can the greatest hero be tainted._


	2. Chapter 1 - Strike the Drums

**Author's Note:**

 **Alright, time to dive into the beginning.**

 **As a semi-note, I've recently gotten into a lot of Pink Floyd. As such, a decent amount of chapter titles (and even the story title itself) kinda reflect this. A lot of material hits me in a way that just...connects.**

 **Anyways, time to start the chapter. A decent amount of my weakness in terms of writing is character interaction, so I'm trying to ease myself into this here.**

 **DISCLAIMER: apologies for absolutely butchering nautical terms. If possible, please correct the terms if you know.**

 **Hope you enjoy! Please review! :)**

* * *

 **CHAPTER 1: STRIKE THE DRUMS**

 **BOAT TOWARDS ZABAN CITY**

 **June 3rd, 1995**

Kurapika did not like sailing.

Granted, at the very moment, he was better off than most of the other Hunter applicants, who, with the exception of the captain and crew, were currently being rocked and tumbled across the ship like a mass of ragdolls. Even then, Kurapika was still rather uncomfortable with his current situation. While not exactly unnerving, the mere thought of drowning or falling into the dark, stormy sea in a shipwreck made him give pause.

He slowly walked for a bit, around a group of five applicants, to calm himself.

Three applicants still showed no sign of unease, one with a fishing pole dozing off on the ground like the situation was a pure calm. Another constantly kept trying to adjust his glasses, only for them to fall slightly out of line, causing him to start again.

Most notably, besides the mass of groans gathering in the room, the last applicant had a small book in his hand, keeping a respectable amount of concentration and focus on staying still.

It was, in a sense, in a state of balance.

Suddenly, the ship jolted in the middle of the storm. The light cacophony of groans suddenly became a yelp of pain and discomfort, as those who were on the edge of unease finally let go and tried to run onto the storm-battered deck.

The peaceful sleep of the boy with the fishing pole instantly turned to surprise and sharp alertness, while the man with the glasses saw them fly off his head, and onto the deck. In his haste, he forgot that he could barely see without them, and promptly ran into the wall.

A book flung across the ship, as its owner calmly looked at it be flung across the cabin.

Temporary chaos emerged, slowly being replaced with relief. Everyone tried to help each other, with Kurapika managing to find a sheathed knife for one of the other applicants, who thanked him briefly, before running to the deck.

As the relief winded down back to the normal, uneasy calm, Kurapika saw the book. He went to go pick it up, only to meet with another hand. Looking up, he saw grey eyes closely examining him.

A moment passed between the two, with no words exchanged. Finally, Kurapika relented, and slowly started to walk back to the wall the other two applicants laid, tired.

All of a sudden, the other man spoke.

"Did you intend to steal my book?"

Kurapika quickly turned around, and got a closer look at the man. Odd for a man, he donned earrings and a barely visible headband, along with a suit which resembled the man with the glasses and his attire.

After a moment, Kurapika calmed, and responded cordially. "No. I intended to give it back to you."

"Really?" The man's voice was a cross between amused and interested, clearly evident in tone.

"It'd be a near crime to deny someone being able to read." Kurapika said this with a faint hint of a grin.

"I see that it's one of the only things you've brought with yourself to the Hunter Exams. I'm curious...what is it for?"

The man stood up, slowly but surely, with book in hand. "I like to think. Ponder, wonder about the world. I don't consider myself to be a philosopher, but sometimes, I find it intriguing to just observe your surroundings. You can take in the air, observe a regular day, or just see what happens in a certain situation..."

"I started recording information about places, events, and other happenings in this book when I was younger. Nowadays, I keep an archive of books in which I've written in."

The man motioned with his hand to the title binding on the side of the book. "This particular book is the 12th book out of 13. The 13th book still has blank pages, but I decided against bringing it."

"I started writing in the 12th book 2 years ago. I made a pledge to myself to improve my penmanship, though some letters are harder to read than others, especially 'K' and 'L'." The man continued. "Besides recording events, I like to wonder about life itself. You know about the telescopes in Limberia, right?"

Vaguely, Kurapika recognized the name. From his knowledge, the telescopes showed other celestial objects astronomical distances away that had never before been seen.

"I've heard of them, yes."

"Have you ever thought of the possibility that there could be more out there?"

"What?"

The man coughed, clearing his throat. "Never mind."

A few seconds of silence followed, ended abruptly by a question, as the man started to read again.

"I apologize for interrupting you, but I didn't catch your name."

The man looked away from the book, and stared at Kurapika. For a brief second, he had no words, but with pause, a few came to him.

"My name...is Chrollo Lucifer."

An unexpected hand came to meet Kurapika's sight, as he awkwardly returned the greeting, slowly returning to a state of relaxed formality. "My name is Kurapika."

The handshake met, quiet, yet with great force. As Kurapika disengaged, he felt slightly unnerved by Chrollo, both in body and demeanor.

Almost as if he could sense Kurapika's discomfort, Chrollo wordlessly motioned him to sit down, to his left. He hesitated, but obliged.

* * *

The hours had flown by, making the dull journey more lively than merely staring out onto the stormy sea.

Both had started talking nervously, yet eased into a state of quiet reflection and commentary on both their likes, dislikes, and opinions.

"When I look up at the sky, it sometimes looks like a chaotic band, some sort of gathering up in the sky."

"They're all constellations, aren't they?"

"Yes, they are. But..."

Chrollo flipped to a certain page in his notebook. "Sometimes, you start to wonder, imagine. Realizing that one person, one man is just a grain of sand in the wider world."

"And you realize that you're alone in the universe."

"Do you memorize these?"

Kurapika's dry tone cut into Chrollo's ponderings, causing Chrollo to faintly smile. He continued on, as Kurapika started to doze off into the background noise of the other applicants.

He slept well into the following hours, with his head unwittingly snug deep into Chrollo's lap.

* * *

 **End Note:**

 **I promise this will pick up. Sorry for the short chapter. :o**


End file.
